The defeated Champion Hurdle favourite and winner of the Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival are both entered in the Aintree Hurdle

The first day of the Randox Grand National meeting is set to serve up the clash fans were denied at the Cheltenham Festival.

The 2023 Champion Hurdle winner Constitution Hill’s encounter with the Willie Mullins’ female champion Lossiemouth for the 2025 title had been long anticipated. Yet a late change of plan saw Lossiemouth tackle the Mares’ Hurdle, which she won for a second time, and Constitution Hill fail to finish after the 1-2 favourite fell for the first time in his career.

READ MORE: Sam Quek hits back at critics over role on ITV Grand National teamREAD MORE: Cheltenham Festival fan favourite Langer Dan retired with ‘unexplainable heart problem’

The pair now feature among the entries for the William Hill Aintree Hurdle along with Brighterdaysahead, another to disappoint in the Champion Hurdle after going off second favourite.

The two-and-a-half-mile contest was won in 2023 by Constitution Hill, who will this year be on a recovery mission after his dramatic fall four out.

Bookmakers Coral have installed Constitution Hill the evens favourite…

Sam Quek said she was surprised by the abuse she received when news broke she would be joining the broadcast team for Aintree next week

British Olympic gold medallist Sam Quek has answered back to critics who posted negative comments to news she would be part of the ITV Racing team at the Grand National meeting.

Quek, 36, has successfully transitioned from being a member of the winning GB women’s hockey team at the 2016 London Games to a career in television. She worked as a BBC presenter at the Tokyo Olympics, has covered football, NFL and rugby union and appeared on reality shows including Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

Quek, from Liverpool, is also an enthusiastic horse racing fan who has owned horses that have run at the Cheltenham Festival and the 1,000 Guineas.

But reaction to her addition to the ITV Racing stable next week included comments on X such as “Grand National ruined”, “What knowledge or expertise does she bring to it?”

Quek addressed the response in an interview with the Racing Post describing it as “a bit like hysteria.”